Match Preview: Queen of the South (Home)

Raith Rovers  v  Queen of the South  Stark’s Park Saturday 10th January 2015 Kick off: 3.00pm

Admission Prices:

Adults – £17  | Students – £13 | Concessions* – £9 | Parent & Child – £20

 Disabled – Half price

 *Concessions are under 16s, over 65s and jobseekers. Both full time students and jobseeker tickets can only be purchased from the main office at Stark’s Park. Jobseekers must show satisfactory proof of entitlement along with photographic I.D and students must show a valid matriculation card – expired student cards will not be accepted.

Match Preview:

Raith Rovers will play their first home match of the year this weekend, when they welcome Queen of the South to Stark’s Park this Saturday.

Both teams go into the match on the back of a win last time out, with Raith moving up the Championship table to sixth, after a late Christian Nade goal helped them to a 1-0 win at Cowdenbeath. Meanwhile, James Fowler’s side were retaining fourth place in the table with a 3-1 win over Livingston, thanks to goals from Andy Dowie, Derek Lyle and Iain Russell.

The strikes from Lyle and Russell mean the two men are now the Doonhamers top goalscorers this term with 11 goals each, while 21-year-old forward Gavin Reilly is not far behind, with 10 goals to his name.

Raith have yet to take a point off the Dumfries side this season, which is in stark contrast to last term, when Rovers won three out of the four league encounters. John Baird had been something of a thorn in Raith’s side this season, scoring for Queens in the last two encounters, but he, along with midfielder Mark Kerr have both recently left the Palmerston club, electing to join up with promotion rivals Falkirk. While the duo have left, one player who may feature at some stage is former Bairn, Mark Millar, who joined Queen of the South this week, after leaving Peterhead.

A win for Raith Rovers would see them close the gap on their visitors to just five points, while a win for Queen of the South, along with results elsewhere, could see them leapfrog Hibernian, as well as closing the gap to second placed Rangers, who are only six points clear of Fowler’s team.

If Rovers avoid conceding a goal for the third consecutive league match, it’ll be the first time they’ve achieved the feat, since the opening three games of the 2012/13 season. On that occasion, they defeated Hamilton and Falkirk 2-0, and drew 0-0 with Livingston.

The recent head-to-head record between the clubs is all-square, with five wins each from the last ten league fixtures. Raith have a fine record in games played on the 10th of January, with just three defeats from 12 matches. Their last win on this date, was a 4-1 win over St. Mirren, in 1998.

Saturday’s match referee will be Brian Colvin

Head-to-Head League Record at Stark’s Park:

Raith Rovers wins: 25 | Queen of the South wins: 16 | Draws: 8

Raith Rovers goals: 92 | Queen of the South goals: 56

Current form:

Raith Rovers: W-L-L-L-W-W

Queen of the South: W-L-W-L-D-W

Biggest home win: 29/04/1967 Division Two Raith Rovers 7 Queen of the South 2

30/10/1926 Division Two Raith Rovers 7 Queen of the South 2

Biggest away win: 19/08/1967 League Cup Raith Rovers 2 Queen of the South 5

Top Goalscorers in All Competitions:

Raith Rovers: Ryan Conroy 6 | Christian Nade 5 | Mark Stewart 4

Queen of the South: Iain Russell and Derek Lyle both 11 | Gavin Reilly 10

Match Odds:

Raith Rovers: 27/10 | Queen of the South: Evens | Draw: 13/5

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